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help needed with foreshore find


peter990099

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I found this strange fossil on the Durham coast foreshore in the north of England, an area know for its underlying Permian formation. It looks and feels different to other fossils I have found in the area (mostly crinoid stems). I was just wondering if anyone could give an identification if possible.

 

58ae006e2d4d0.jpg

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Can you take a better close -up? From what I can see it looks like a tiny belemnite. But can't be sure.

Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

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9 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Can you take a better close -up? From what I can see it looks like a tiny belemnite. But can't be sure.

I think this would most likely be to old to be a belemnite.

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Hi peter990099!

 

Could it be a broken echinoid spine?

 

Also, I can't really tell from the picture - is your specimen "in" the rock, or are we just seeing an impression of it?

 

Thanks!

 

Monica

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The rock is a Carboniferous crinoidal limestone. I think you have a couple of Hyalostelia sponge "root" fragments. Another possibility is brachiopod spine but looks a bit too thick.

Tarquin

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I'm sure Durham coast (Sunderland, Seaham, Easington etc) has lots of plant fossils and sponges so I think more likely that than a belemnite. Cheers 

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just to quote Tarquin:

 

" Hyalostelia-type root tufts are locally common in Carboniferous rocks but quite rare in erratics from the coast - I've only seen a few specimens in years of collecting there.

It's not a species. You won't be able to determine species or true genus from this specimen - a lot of different glass sponges (hexactinellids) have root masses that look much the same and the genus Hyalostelia (strictly defined by its body spicules) is just one of them.

It's probably best just to label it "hexactinellid sponge root tuft". " - here

 

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I hope I can be forgiven for intruding, but this thread may have solved a long standing mystery for me.  Years ago I posted about a Cretaceous fossil from a deep water deposit on Hornby Island, British Columbia.  No convincing suggestions for an ID were offered then, and of course I had none either.  This thread makes me suspect the fossil is a root tuft from a hexactinellid sponge.  Does that seem reasonable to people?  Note, more photos are in the linked thread.  The fossil is about 10 cm long, and the fibers are about 0.5 mm thick, with some variation as can be seen in the photo of the end of the specimen.

 

Don

 

 

end 1.jpg

long 1.jpg

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